March 26, 2010

OTTAWA – David Booth missed 45 games
after suffering his first concussion of his life on Oct. 24.

After getting his second on Thursday
night in Montreal, it appears the Panthers star winger is done for
the season.

Booth was released from a Montreal
hospital early Friday morning and was later put on a plane bound for
Miami International Airport. Booth is expected to examined by team
medical personnel in South Florida and it will be determined whether
or not he can be cleared to play again this season.

Yet with the Panthers playoff hopes all
but dead and only nine games remaining, coach Pete DeBoer stressed
that the organization needs to look at the big picture when it comes
to Booth. Last year's leading goal scorer, Booth signed a six-year
deal in the offseason and is the team's highest paid forward.

Booth had eight goals in 28 games this
season – including four in the past five games.

“I'm not going to say Booth is done
for the season, but he very well might be and there's a strong
probability of that,'' DeBoer said after his team's workout in Ottawa
on Friday.

“But the next step is to get him to
Florida, get evaluated and we'll know more. I'm very concerned about
it. Where we are in the standings, you have to weigh whether the risk
makes sense. But the doctors will make that decision for us.''

When Booth suffered his first
concussion in Philadelphia, Flyers captain Mike Richards was roundly
criticized for his open ice hit that knocked Booth unconscious. On
Thursday, Booth was working the puck into the Montreal zone when
defenseman Jaroslav Spacek collided with Booth, hitting him flush in
the face.

Booth was looking down at the ice and
didn't appear to see Spacek coming. Spacek was not penalized on the
play and seemed concerned for Booth's well being as he stood nearby
on the ice as medical staff attended to him. Spacek's hit was called
clean by just about every Panthers player and coach asked for an
opinion on it.

“You can't just tell him to keep his
head up because of the way he plays,'' said DeBoer. “He's
aggressive and goes after the puck. The play [Thursday] was him
making the extra effort and reaching for it. And a guy was there.
That's the way he plays and unfortunately he's gotten a couple
concussions because of it.''

Booth had just been coming out of his
funk from the first concussion when he was hit with the second. He
returned to the Panthers seven games before the February Olympic
break, scoring no goals with two assists. The long rest between games
seemed to be very beneficial to Booth as he scored two goals with
four assists in his first two games back from the break.

DeBoer says he's going to mix up the
lines before Saturday's game against the Senators and didn't say who
would replace Booth on the second forward line. Bruiser Steve
MacIntyre was recalled from the team's AHL affiliate in Rochester,
N.Y., but he's expected to play on the fourth line. Michael Frolik
could slide up into Booth's spot.

“I think the team was deflated,''
center Stephen Weiss said regarding Thursday's hit. “You never want
to see a guy get hurt like that, and after what happened earlier,
that was pretty ugly. At least now he has the summer to rest and get
better. Hopefully nothing is wrong. We're all thinking about him.''

-- Saturday's game is Florida's final
game in Canada this season. The Panthers aren't done with Canadian
teams, however. The Senators, Saturday night's opponent, visits
Sunrise on April 6.

SATURDAY: PANTHERS AT SENATORS

When, Where: 7 p.m.; Scotiabank Place,
Kanata, Ont.

TV/Radio: FSNF; WAXY 790

The series: Senators lead 34-26-3

The game: The two have split the two
games this season, with the road team winning each time. After losing
five straight, the Senators beat Montreal and Philadelphia earlier
this week before visiting Buffalo on Friday night. Florida had its
modest two game winning streak snapped with a 4-1 loss in Montreal on
Thursday. The Canadiens scored two empty net goals in the final 90
seconds.

September 19, 2008

As we speculated this summer, it appears Nathan Horton will be moving to center at least on a tryout basis on Saturday.

That means those Sunrise Express (should have been Sawgrass Express IMHO) T-shirts you all bought last season will be collector's items.

Peter DeBoer floated the idea of moving Horton back to his natural position this summer when I met up with him in Kitchener, and at media day on Friday, said he was willing to try a number of different things. Horton moving from right wing to the pivot is one of them.

"We're going to look at all kinds of different options to try and get the best out of our team,'' DeBoer said. "I'm not married to any combinations or guys set at any positions.

"I wanted to come into this training camp with a clean slate for all the players. I don't want anyone to be dragging any baggage from the past into this camp. I don't want to be tainted by 'this guy only plays here.' We want to make sure we're a tough team to play against every night. To me, that means four lines playing with energy and competing and chipping in points every night. If that means moving some guys around, well, we're going to do that.''

Said Horton: "I haven't played [center] since junior, but it's a lot more fun when you can move around and go anywhere on the ice. You can help out more, have more responsibility. I think it'll be fun, but who knows what will happen. We'll see tomorrow, I guess.''

When asked if he welcomed the move, Horton sounded like he was cool with it. "Anyone would be,'' he said. "It's more responsibility and it gets you into the game a little more. You can go different places than you can at the wing.''

Added DeBoer: "I've had conversations with Nathan about it. He was a dominant centerman in junior, went head-to-head with [Eric] Staal night in and night out in junior. He usually came out on top. I've had that conversation with him. All the guys have the attitude that they're going to do what they have to do to find some success here as a team.''

Said JM: "You need a big center, and he fits the bill.''

Added Stephen Weiss: "He's such a good player, he can play anywhere you need him to. He's played center before, so it might take him a few games to get used to it, but he'll be fine.''

Said David Booth: "He's a great player and can play anywhere. Just a great athlete. Things change during the course of a year and you never know what's going to happen. We have a lot of good players, players who can play anywhere.''

Other notes from Friday's meet and greet:

PETER DEBOER

-- On playing well from the start : "The starts here the past couple of years have been a concern. We all know how important it is to get off to a good start and get headed in the right direction.''

-- On his vision: "My concern is making us the hardest working team in the league. We want to play the right way, be a tough team to play against. If we play that way, success is going to come.''

-- On meeting his new players: "I think I have a feel for all the guys. I haven't had a chance to sit down and meet with everyone, but we're going on the road for quite a while here so I can sit with everyone through that span. The feedback is excitement. These guys are excited to be back. Anytime you miss the playoffs it's a long summer. As much as hockey players enjoy their summer, four or five months is too long. I think everyone would be happy with just two or three.

"They're excited about our direction, excited about the new players in the room. And so are we.''

-- Bringing in his style: "Players want honest and they want straightforwardness. They'll see early what I expect, what we want. They're going to get to buy into that early. There won't be an issue.''

-- Expectations: "We have a captive audience here. There isn't one guy who has been here in this organization who has played in the playoffs in seven years. .-.-. These guys want to be playing playoff hockey, want the direction that's going to take them to success at that time of year. We have to lay that foundation in training camp.''

-- On the new captain: "It's a topic of conversation, although it hasn't been that big a topic with the coaching staff that people out there may believe. We have so many other things to focus on right now. I now there is leadership in that room, I know there's depth of leadership in that room. If anything, there's going to be a group of guys not wearing a letter that probably could be.

"As far as the 'C' and 'As' go, we haven't had that conversation in any detail. I really wanted to come into camp with an open mind and let the chips sort themselves out. Usually those things become pretty clear pretty quickly. If they don't, well, I'm not in any rush. This is important decision for this franchise and we want to make sure we get the right guy.''

-- Younger players fitting in: "That's up to them. I've never been a coach who cut or kept players because of their age or experience. We want to win every night and if I feel Frolik or Matthias or any of the young guys can step in and help us win on night one of the season, they'll be in the lineup night one. If I don't think they can, they won't be.

"I'm not going to make those decisions based on age or experience. It's because I've found in the past that there are young guys who are ahead of the curve and can step right in. Some guys you think could, really couldn't. We'll see how it shakes out.''

NATHAN HORTON

-- On setting the right tempo: "It all starts tomorrow. Everyone is going come in and work hard. I think that's the main thing, getting it right from the start. Whatever happens in practice carries over into the games. We've talked about [digging a hole] a lot. We definitely need a good start. It's not easy when you fall behind from the beginning. It's a long season, but those wins count just as much as the ones at the end of the season.''

-- On not having Olli around: "Obviously he was my friend. He was a team leader and it'll be different. But the guys we brought in have leadership, guys like Stillman and McCabe and the list goes on. It''s exciting for me, I think it'll be exciting for everyone.''

-- Doing more: "I need to do more. The big thing is not taking nights off, and that comes from working. Practice means a lot and I'm going to do my best there. That should carry over. The nights we take off are the points we need at the end.''

-- Did leadership need to change?: "I think something needed to change. We have great guys here who are older guys and leaders. We have a good mix. We're all getting along, have been skating together for a month. It's been fun, and tomorrow is where it all starts.''

-- Fresh start with Pete: "I'm excited to play for him, and I think if you talk to a lot of guys, they are too. He knows a lot about the game and he'll be good for the Panthers and for everyone's career. He knows a lot and has a lot to teach.''

JACQUES MARTIN

-- On cleaning house: "No matter where you're at, you're going to have ups and downs. I think we improved the character of our club so we can deal with situations, deal with times of frustrations and adversity better than we have in the past.''

-- On goals: "We have a nucleus of players who can take us to the playoffs. .-.-. Our goaltending is strong enough to make us a playoff team. Our defense now, I really believe it's good enough to make us a playoff team. Up front, we're still very young, but I think we have people who will produce. When I look at our roster, I see seven guys who could be 20 goal scorers if they stay healthy. We could get more production from the backend. It's going to take a lot of work, but we have better depth than we've had before and we still may need to add some dimension.''

-- Training camp: "We're going to have some great battles between the young kids. Matthias, Frolik, Repik for instance. Then you have another wave of guys like Stewart, Sprukts, Meyer, Glass. those could be players who earn a spot on our team. We have more compition within the team.''

-- On lines: "The good thing is, that's not my decision anymore.''

-- Expectations: "Don't single out Nathan. We're expecting more from a lot of people. People like Stephen Weiss, Rostislav Olesz, David Booth, Brett McLean. We signed Cory Stillman, Richard Zednik. There's probably seven individuals who could score 20 goals or more. I think it's time for those players to take a step forward.

-- Zednik moving forward: "Richard handled it very well. He had a lot of time to recover, and I think he's anxious to come back and start competing. When he got hurt, he was at the best -- with us, anyway. Hopefully he can regain that form quickly and help us win hockey games.''

-- How tough to make Panthers: "As a player, there's injuries and there are trades. If someone steps up and shows he deserves to play at this level, I'm sure we'll find the room.''

-- Jassen Cullimore coming back: "If you remember last year, we had eight defensemen at training camp, and by November, we had to reach out and sign Jassen. Sometime you don't have enough defensemen. We like Jassen, felt he performed well for us last year. Who knows what can happen in training camp. He's going to get a chance to prove to the new coach where he fits in. Hopefully after camp we have a contract for him.''

BRYAN MCCABE

-- On returning from injury: "It's tough when you can't shoot the puck, that's one of your bread-and-butter things. There are other aspects you can work on, and I hope to contribute offensively. That's why they brought me out here. I'm going to put the puck in the net this year.''

-- Getting started: "I'm really excited, I get a fresh start here. New coach, lot of new teammates. I'm looking forward to helping out this club.''

STEPHEN WEISS

-- On skating with his new teammates the past few weeks: "It's good to get guys in here early, that way you can feel comfortable together before camp starts. I think it's important to start building some chemistry. Look at Cory Stillman. We've been together a few weeks already. I haven't played in a game with him, but I feel like I know him a little bit. There's a comfort level there.

"When we're all sucking wind and bent over in the first practice, it'll help to know one another. It helps you learn one another.''

DAVID BOOTH

-- On the new Panthers: "I think we do need a fresh start around here. We haven't made the playoffs in eight years, and that's something we need to do down here. If we do it, we can get the fan base going. And we can do it. We can make a charge for the Stanley Cup. We have to keep talking about the Stanley Cup. That has to be a goal. That's why you play the game, to win. We have to talk about that every day.''

-- Quick start: "Come March and April, you find yourself looking back at games lost saying 'we had a two-goal lead.' We have to do that starting Oct. 10. We have to get going right now. We've seen how hard the guys have worked in the offseason, we just have to be ready to go from the start. We have to finish off teams, and when we're down, we have to fight to the finish.''

-- More on the new look: "I think we have a good team. The changes we made were good. There's definitely going to be a good vibe in the locker room, and everyone is on the same page right now. No one is better than anyone else. You have to prove yourself in training camp.''

-- Chemistry on the Sunrise Express: "It takes time to develop. That was fun. But those guys are great players and they're going to find success with whomever they play. They make the other players better. If we can get two or three lines going every night, producing -- even four lines -- that will help our team.''

May 02, 2008

Anyone out there interested in these? Being held in Canada this summer, the worlds were expected to drum up much more interest in North America than in years past.

But is there any interest?

The Panthers have six players -- well, seven if you count Branislav Mezei -- representing five different countries in these games. They kicked off today with Team Canada (with Jay Bouwmeester) dropping Slovenia 5-1.

I plan on talking here about the games because I do have a slight interest in these games. Figure it will grow when they get closer to crowning a champion. Thoughts?

-- The U.S. entry (with Craig Anderson in goal and David Booth flying
up the left wing) played Latvia on Friday night, sporting retro jerseys
from 1960 design ( I dig 'em). Boston's Tim Thomas got the start over
Anderson as the USAers trounced Latvia 4-0.